Minevich v. Spectrum Health-Meier Heart Ctr.

• Decision Date: 06 March 2014
• Docket Number: No. 1:12–cv–1358.,1:12–cv–1358.
• Citation: 1 F.Supp.3d 790
• Parties: Zoya MINEVICH, Plaintiff, v. SPECTRUM HEALTH–MEIER HEART CENTER, Darryl Elmouchi, Anne Beekman, and Rick Green, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

1 F.Supp.3d 790

Zoya MINEVICH, Plaintiff,

v.SPECTRUM HEALTH–MEIER HEART CENTER, Darryl Elmouchi, Anne Beekman, and Rick Green, Defendants.

No. 1:12–cv–1358.

United States District Court,

W.D. Michigan,

Southern Division.

Signed March 6, 2014.

Ronnie Edward Cromer, Jr., The Cromer Law Group PLLC, Southfield, MI, for Plaintiff.

Sara Grey Lachman, Thomas R. Wurst, Miller Johnson PLC, Grand Rapids, MI, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PAUL L. MALONEY, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on Defendants' motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 85.) In this case, Plaintiff Zoya Minevich, a Ukrainian woman, asserts that she was subject to discrimination and retaliation based on her national origin and gender while she was employed at Spectrum. In her complaint, Plaintiff alleges seven counts: gender discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation under Title VII; hostile work environment under Michigan's Elliott–Larsen Civil Rights Act; negligence; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and wrongful discharge. Defendants Spectrum Health–Meijer Heart Center ¹ (“Spectrum”), Dr. Darryl Elmouchi, Anne Beekman, and Rick Green brought the instant motion for summary judgment. They allege that Plaintiff's state law claims are barred by a shortened statute of limitations and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her hostile work environment, discrimination, and retaliation claims.

Having reviewed the briefing and relevant legal authority, the Court finds the matter can be resolved without oral argument. See W.D. Mich. L.R. Civ. P. 7.2(d). For the following reasons, the Court will GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART the Defendants' motion.

I. Background

Plaintiff Minevich was hired at Spectrum on November 30, 2009 as a cardiovascular technologist (CVT), assisting surgeons in surgical procedures. (ECF No. 117 at pg. 10.) During her employment, Plaintiff was the only female CVT. ( Id. at 11.) Plaintiff worked with three preceptors, or trainers, who were more experienced CVTs: Girum Melka, Derek Bullen, and Matt Jackson. ( Id.) Plaintiff worked with multiple surgeons, including Dr. Elmouchi, one of the defendants here. ( Id.) Plaintiff's supervisor was Defendant Anne Beekman. (ECF No. 98 at pg. 8.) The human resources department included Defendant Rick Green.

Plaintiff's performance and treatment during the 26 months she was an employee at Spectrum is subject to much debate by the parties. Defendants characterize Plaintiff as inept, slow to learn, and hazardous to patient safety, while Plaintiff claims that the incidents calling her competency into question were largely unsubstantiated and arose only after she began complaining about racial and gender harassment. Each party's version of the facts is presented below.

Defendants assert that Plaintiff failed to learn the skills necessary for the CVT job, even after an extended training time. (ECF No. 98 at 9–10.) They claim that Plaintiff was unable to work independently during heart surgeries to operate the simulator, take measurements of EKG intervals, operate the V–Tech equipment, or operate the defibrillator. ( Id. at 10.) Defendants also claim that Plaintiff did not maintain the sterile technique required in surgery rooms, once opening a bag of sterile instruments with her teeth. ( Id. at 11.) In July 2010, Defendant Beekman issued a “Corrective Action Second Written Warning” (ECF No. 89–4) to Minevich after two patients contracted infections. Both patients had undergone surgeries at which Minevich was responsible for keeping the area sterile, but Minevich could not be definitively proven as the cause of the infections. (ECF No. 98 at 11.) Minevich contested the warning, complaining that, inter alia, the hospital's suspicion that she caused the infections was retaliation for her prior complaints about Elmouchi yelling at her during surgeries. ( Id.; ECF No. 89–5.) Defendant and HR employee Rick Green investigated this claim, but could not substantiate the allegation. (ECF No. 90–1.) In October 2011, Minevich was involved in an altercation with a nurse, Jody Hunt, that was witnessed by Kim Umlor, another RN. (ECF No. 98 at 11.) After the altercation was reported to Defendant Beekman, both Minevich and Hunt were disciplined. ( Id.; ECF No. 21) Defendants claim that immediately after that, Plaintiff falsely reported that Umlor was drunk on the job. (ECF No. 98 at 11.)

Defendants claim that Minevich continued to exhibit substandard performance, routinely making mistakes, causing problems for others on her teams, and endangering patient safety. ( Id. at 12; ECF Nos. 92–1, 92–2.) Finally, on December 5, 2011, the director of the Frederick Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute, Patricia Villemure,composed a memo stating that Minevich had to be terminated due to her inability to perform the job satisfactorily. (ECF No. 91–3.) Accordingly, Beekman put Minevich on “Decision Making Leave” on December 15 for three days. (ECF No. 91–5). When Plaintiff returned to work on December 19, 2011, Beekman created a “Return to Work Agreement” and a “Performance Enhancement Plan” (PEP). ( Id.) Under the PEP, Minevich had varying amounts of time to master the basic skills of a CVT, and she was to be reviewed periodically for progress. ( Id.)

On January 19, 2012, Plaintiff filed a formal complaint alleging that she had been subject to discrimination based on gender and race. In her complaint, she listed a number of incidents implicating seven of her coworkers. (ECF No. 93–2.) Concerning her nationality, Plaintiff alleged that other CVTs called her “Natasha” after the character on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, started a rumor that she was a “mail order bride,” and made fun of her accent. ( Id.) Plaintiff reported that Elmouchi yelled at her during a procedure, and Beekman suggested that she was the only one treated harshly because she was the only woman. ( Id.) Plaintiff also reported that her coworkers engaged in a number of sexual jokes and double entendres, such as naming a piece of tubing after porn star John Holmes, taking about giving their wives “pearl necklaces,” joking about the pronunciation of the name Koch–Remage, comparing Minevich's breasts to a woman in a lab training video, and asking Minevich if she wanted to see another CVT's penis piercing. ( Id.) Placing her termination on hold, Spectrum began an investigation into Plaintiff's harassment allegations. However, no evidence of harassment or discrimination was uncovered. (ECF No. 93–5; ECF No. 98 at 14.) Finally, on February 2, 2012, Minevich's employment was terminated. The termination notice stated that Minevich could not demonstrate “the ability to perform the expectations of [her] position at a satisfactory level.” (ECF No. 94–4.)

Plaintiff presents a very different picture of her employment at Spectrum. Overall, she alleges that the complaints about her performance were brought by her harassers, in retaliation for her complaints against them. Plaintiff alleges that she began complaining to management about the abusive work environment around March 2010. She filed a formal complaint against Elmouchi on June 4, 2010. (ECF No. 127–1 at pg. 5–6.) Around July 2010, Minevich was blamed and disciplined after two patients were infected during surgical procedures. Plaintiff claims that many CVTs and nurses did a substandard job at cleaning the surgical rooms, and that there was no proof that Plaintiff was the cause of the infections. (ECF No. 117 at pg. 13.) Discovery in this case revealed that another employee was also present at both procedures and could have caused the infections-the attending doctor. (ECF No. 123–4.) Further, she alleges that all of the information against her came from her harassers, and an inadequate investigation was done. ( Id.)

In September 2010, Plaintiff was denied the opportunity to attend training on certain equipment, but a male technician with less seniority than Minevich was allowed to attend. (ECF No. 117 at pg. 12.) Plaintiff also recounts a number of sexual jokes and innuendo that made her uncomfortable, which she said happened nearly every day. (ECF No. 118–4 at pg. 6; ECF No. 93–2 (“harassment at the lab continued almost on a regular bas[is].”)) She claims that Elmouchi was the “ringleader” in some of the jokes, and that Elmouchi, Green, and Beekman fostered an environment where sexual jokes were acceptable. ( Id.) She alleges that vulgar photographs of male genitals were displayed on a board in one of the labs, and Beekman was involved in posting the photos. ( Id.) She also described the “pearl necklace,” Koch–Remage, penis piercing, “John Holmes,” and Russian jokes incidents discussed above. Plaintiff describes Elmouchi screaming at her but calmly explaining the same problems to men, refusing to explain his procedures or provide direction to her, and not disciplining men for mistakes. (ECF No. 120–2 at pg. 4.) Other CVTs commented that “women have small brains” so they are not qualified for the CVT job. (ECF No. 119–4 at pg. 7.) After reporting stress from harassment at work to a mental health professional, Plaintiff received a prescription to control anxiety and depression. (ECF No. 128–2 at pg. 3.) Despite her complaints about each of these incidents, Spectrum deemed each claim unsubstantiated. (ECF No. 127–4 at pg. 4.)

Plaintiff also outlines a number of abuses to both other women and minorities at Spectrum. One CVT pulled the drawstring on another woman's pants so that the woman had to catch them from falling down. (ECF No. 119–3 at pg. 9–10.) Another man intentionally kicked a chair into the same woman's buttocks on another occasion. (ECF No. 123–5 at pg. 2.) This woman was told that “bad things happen” when people file complaints, and she ultimately left her job after complaining to Spectrum about the hostile work environment towards women at the Heart Center. ( Id. a...